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HOMESTEAD, Fla. – NASCAR Chairman Brian France wants Jimmie Johnson to be commended for his four-year run atop NASCAR, and not used as an example of why the championship format might be flawed.
Johnson heads into Sunday’s finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway poised to become the first driver in NASCAR history to win four consecutive titles, all under the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship format implemented in 2004. His dominance has made it easy for Chase critics to blast the system, which France called unfair.
“The only way fair to look at it is not to pick apart the format, but recognize excellence,” France said Friday. “I don’t think historians could have predicted how good they are. What I wouldn’t want to do is take away from the accomplishment of Jimmie and his team. In this format, dominating four straight years is incredibly difficult to do.”
The first year of the Chase was the most competitive, and five drivers entered the finale mathematically eligible to win the title. Kurt Busch beat Johnson by eight points for the championship.
The next season was won by Tony Stewart, and Johnson began his run in 2006. Although the 2007 Chase was a close fight between Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, Johnson has rolled into Homestead the past four seasons well in control.
This year, he needs only to finish 25th or better to beat Hendrick teammate Mark Martin for the historic title.
France said NASCAR has no plans to tweak the format to prevent one driver from dominating.
France answered questions for nearly 45 minutes:
•On Danica Patrick, where Nationwide Series team at JR Motorsports, co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Rick Hendrick, is believed to be the front-runner:
“She has taken a very hard look at this sport,” France said. “She’s a very recognizable, accomplished driver in her own right. I would love to see her compete at the highest form of racing in the world. I think she’s thinking about it. I don’t know how well she’ll do.”
•The economy, which has caused a decline in attendance, sponsorship pullouts and manufacturer cutbacks:
“We don’t feel that 2010 looks, from just a pure economy standpoint from what we’re hearing from our fans, an awful lot better. Clearly the sponsorship market is tougher than it has ever been in my memory, and I don’t anticipate that getting remarkably better.”
